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Image generated with Midjourney by D. Troy Roach (28-02-2023) pH level and microbiome balance & changes in inflammation in Long-Covid?      Below is my theory which was originally published on May 28th, 2023. I think I might have found a major piece of the puzzle during day 4 of #TheNicotineTest. Is this the end of a long rabbit hole? I hope so!!! Details of the theory will be published in this Google Doc : I am only at the beginning of this rabbit hole . I am still determining where it is going. All the things I am looking at might just be basic science that is boring for a microbiologist. I might also be wrong on many levels! However, even if it is wrong, it might lead to a glimmer of insight somewhere in the search for answers? A piece of the puzzle? Right now I just have a bunch of random points that seem connected but might not be... Therefore, I will just list the points to see if anyone can help me make any connections: 1. My confusion over the presence of "Sil...

  Image created with Midjourney by D. Troy Roach (Feb 18th, 2023) Neck Exercises for Long Covid-- Part Deux This is my 8-month update from the neck exercises (TMJ exercises, Throat exercises, Posture, etc).  January 2024 update : See the " Mewing " section below for a new "Tongue Circle" exercise which I think will be a game changer. Ma rch 2024 update : I have now added tongue circles. The tongue is a huge muscle that can help strengthen the neck as a whole. https://youtu.be/B3dF5TDkgiY?si=ZInmhrtoLbYW4VpA May 2024 update: I tried to stop my tine dose (10 mg) of amitriptyline. One month taper down to 5 mg...then off it for a few weeks. Bad idea to stop. My sleep got worse and neck tension came back. So I am now back on 5mg. The stop was because my head was feeling "too loose and bobbly", so a half dose of 5mg seems to be a good half-way point. Amitriptyline didn't start working until after nicotine patches... so I wonder what will happen when I take...

 My Long-Covid Tinnitus Rabbit Hole Notes "A drawing of "sound", in the style of MC Escher." Generated with Dall-e on Feb. 4th, 2023. After almost three years of Long Covid, I have finally started moving in the right direction. I am now at about 70%! I am constantly researching, thinking, scheming, and experimenting to heal. However, with so many symptoms (Brain Fog being one of them), I often try to focus on one symptom at a time. Thanks to my improvements over the past 6 months, I can now spend some time researching the less debilitating symptoms like Tinnitus. My tinnitus is not too bad. It is mostly bearable:  It is not always there now. I am only bothered when it is too quiet.  It seems to be worse when there is more inflammation. Most noise (city, work, talking, etc) masks it for me. I can mask it and forget about it with things like meditation music when I want to fall asleep. Since I have found a lot of benefits from brain training and "neuroplasticity ...

  Image created with Dall-E 2 by D. Troy Roach, "Bust of a strong man in the style of MC Escher."   ..... Since my second SARS2 infection in April of 2021, my main physical symptom (not counting fatigue, PEM, etc...) has been neck pain. Nothing I did seemed to help improve this symptom; stretching, weekly PT, Chiropractor, different pillows, muscle relaxers, etc were all a bust. Luckily, in June 2022 I found some isometric exercises which have made a big difference over the span of two to three months of doing them almost daily. My neck issues have reduced by 70%. My problem, as diagnosed by a specialist PT, is probably neuromuscular. It affects my occipitals, SCM, TMJ, throat, tinnitus, etc. It seems to be a kind of CCI (Cranial Cervical instability) that was caused by the Spring 2021 flavor of SARS2.  Note: Before these exercises, I took Gabapentin for 5 weeks and then Pregabalin for three weeks. Both seemed to help my neck, Pregabalin more than Gabapentin. Three weeks...

These are my notes from "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson. Note: This is not a review of the book or a complete set of the ideas presented. It is simply a list of points, listed in order of presentation in the book, that I found interesting. I have added some personal comments from personal experiences. This picture has nothing to do with the book. It is just a picture of me reflecting. 😏🤔 1. Do not focus on individuals and racism. Focus on the Caste system that causes inequality. I think that this is the single most useful idea in the book. My takeaway is that it is often useless to blame/attack individuals for their racism. It is more productive to point out problems from the Caste system and working to fix the system. 2. Nazi Germany used the US system, laws, and history (Indian genocide, Jim Crow laws of percentages, slavery, etc) to set up a less extreme system for Jews. The fact that the USA had the best legal model for Nazis to set up a system to discriminate against (and...

Builing Bridges, not walls... Claude Monet, National Art Gallery, Washington DC, December 2008, Photo copyright @unitedstatesian Basic truth/facts which are accepted by the majority of the population seem to be rare. The path to reaching the common ground is more indirect than might be expected  The direct route would be for journalists on both sides to form a kind of consensus commission. A multi-partisan group could work together to publish a "wiki" of agreed facts from the previous week's events. They could complement these posts with lists of contested facts on parts they do not agree on and links to their supporting evidence.  In my opinion, the road to true change would also require the creation of one or two new parties, but I will leave that for a future post :-)  However, these dry, unemotional facts would only solve a small part of the problem and I argue that it starts with two key concepts becoming part of colloquial language.... The solution lies in making...